Daniel is one of the great heros of the Bible. He was a courageous young man in a foreign land. He stayed loyal to the Lord at great personal risk. We all know the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den. How there was a law passed that no one could pray to any god other than King Darius. However, Daniel stayed loyal to God and prayed to Him anyway. As a result, he was cast into the lion’s den but was miraculously saved by the Lord.

Daniel accomplished great things for the Lord. He lived a life of courageous faith. He lived the kind of life that we ought to hope for our own children. With this in mind, I would like to highlight one single phrase from that story. It says in Daniel 6:10, Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days(NKJV). Hero’s do not become heroic at the time of conflict. They become heroic through the slow process of deeply ingrained habit. Daniel did not all of a sudden, in the face of danger, decide to serve the Lord. It was “his custom since early days.”

If we desire our children to live lives of courageous faith, we should help them start now. One commandment which has no age limit is Christ’s commandment to “go out and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28). However, sharing Christ can be scary (for adults and kids alike). This is what makes the summer such a great opportunity. Summer is the busiest time in children’s ministry. There are all kinds of fun events for kids and it doesn’t get much less threatening for your son or daughter than bringing their non-Christian friends to these events. What a great opportunity to sit down with your child, strategizing and praying for their friends that they would place their faith in Christ. Helping our children think in this way goes a long way in raising sons and daughters who are wholly committed to the Gospel.